This summer vacation is the darkest one I have ever experienced in my entire elementary school years.

In previous summer vacations, it was always the happiest time for me. I would go bird hunting in the mountains, catch fish in the river, and use a flashlight to catch frogs in the fields at night.

But this summer, I didn't dare to go out and play anywhere. I stayed at home every day, reading books and doing farm work to "redeem" myself.

With my grades, there shouldn't have been any problem for me to get into the middle school in the county. However, under the influence of alcohol, I didn't perform well and could only go to the middle school in the town.

The Red Flag Village where I live is located deep in the mountains. Both my parents hope that I can study and change my fate, to get out of this poor valley and not end up like them, spending their whole lives in the mountains. So they have great expectations for me, but unfortunately, I have disappointed them.

Only my grandfather in the family doesn't blame me. He is a broad-minded person and takes things lightly. He often says, "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings." He advises my parents not to worry so much and says that my life is something I have earned. As long as I can live healthily, that's good enough. As for how my life will turn out, it depends on my own destiny.

Previous summer vacations always felt like they passed by quickly, but this summer felt incredibly long and agonizing. I have never been so eager for school to start as I am now.

Finally, in early September, I endured until the golden autumn. My friend Fatty and I went to the middle school in town together, escaping from Red Flag Village and avoiding our parents' reproach.

Fatty complained to me, "You don't know, these past two months have been driving me crazy. My mom is buzzing around my ears like a fly, almost driving me to death!"

I replied sarcastically, "Still drinking?"

Fatty retorted, "Of course! Why wouldn't I? There's a saying, 'A man who doesn't drink is wasted in the world!' Ah, damn it—"

I kicked Fatty into the rice field and said, "I am a disaster, but it seems like you are my real disaster, damn it!"

It takes half a day's journey on the mountain road to reach the nearest market town. The town is not big, with only one middle school, so the name of the school is still quite well-known: "Town First Middle School."

We all know that the students who had good grades and good family backgrounds went to study in the county, while those who stayed in Town First Middle School were mostly students with poor grades, mischievous behavior, or relatively poor family conditions. Naturally, the academic atmosphere here couldn't be compared to schools in the county.

Fatty and I couldn't commute every day, so we had to choose to live at the school. Only the children from the town were eligible for daily commuting.

After registering and arranging our dormitory, we started a week-long military training.

The weather in early September was still quite hot. After a few days of military training, we were tanned and skinny, especially Fatty, who was almost on the verge of collapse. He even developed the skill of "same-hand same-foot," which left the military training instructor extremely frustrated.

On the first day of formal classes, two new students joined our class, a boy and a girl.

The boy was tall and thin, dressed stylishly, with long artistic hair that gave him the vibe of a Korean star. He had his hands in his pockets, chewing gum, and his eyes glimmered with a rebellious light.

Many people were whispering below, saying that this boy's name was Long Tao and his family owned a small coal mine in town. He was known as the rich second generation in town, wearing and using only famous brands. He was the ideal handsome and rich guy in the hearts of many girls, and everyone called him "Young Master Long."

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Standing next to Young Master Long was a girl with flowing long hair and fair skin, very sweet-looking, immediately attracting the attention of all the boys in the class.

Even Fatty, being the vulgar guy he is, had his eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets, drooling all over the table.

The girl's outfit was also very impressive, like a doll, standing out from the other girls in the class. If she were a swan, all the other girls would be ugly ducklings.

The girl's name was "Zhang Yuxin," a perfect example of a wealthy and beautiful girl.

Neither Young Master Long nor Zhang Yuxin participated in the military training. There was nothing we could do about it; they had money and power, so the school didn't dare to do anything to them.

Our homeroom teacher was a middle-aged man with a Mediterranean hairstyle. As customary on the first day of class, the class leaders were appointed.

The teacher didn't bother with a voting election. He directly appointed Zhang Yuxin as the class monitor. Her dad was a secretary, an official, so it was only natural for his daughter to become an official too.

At this point, Young Master Long raised his hand voluntarily and said he would be the discipline officer.

Young Master Long was quite cunning. We all knew that in a class, the discipline officer was actually the highest-ranking position, holding the power of "life and death."

The teacher pretended to ask for everyone's opinion, but we all knew Young Master Long's family background, so no one would object. Therefore, Young Master Long was elected as the discipline officer without any opposition.

For honest and straightforward village kids like me and Fatty, we weren't interested in such positions. After all, no matter what, those positions would never fall on our heads.

Most of the class leaders were students from town, except for the position of the academic representative, which was taken by a rural kid because his academic performance was indeed the best. He entered school with the highest score in the whole school, so there was no one to compete with him for the position.

The new campus life began, and after the short novelty wore off, it quickly became ordinary.

We lived and went about our daily lives in the school, only going home once a week on weekends.

Zhang Yuxin became our class flower, and Fatty kept talking about her all the time.

To be honest, Zhang Yuxin was indeed beautiful, but compared to Liu Qingqing, I felt she was not even close. After all, Liu Qingqing was a snake immortal, and that kind of fairy charm was something ordinary people didn't possess.

In these past few days, the story I heard the most was about Young Master Long. Relying on his family's wealth, he had a high status in the local area. Since elementary school, he often bullied his classmates and even dared to use a knife. His reputation was notorious.

But such a character surprisingly had many girls who liked him, and many boys idolized him. They would flock around Young Master Long every day, treating him like a big brother. Young Master Long had an air of superiority not only in the class but throughout the entire campus.

At noon that day, after we finished lunch and returned to the dormitory, the door was suddenly kicked open. Young Master Long, accompanied by two followers, entered menacingly.

Before we could react, the two followers pointed at us and shouted like lackeys, "No talking allowed, behave!"

Young Master Long came to my bed and dragged a boy named Xu Wenbo from his bed.

Xu Wenbo wore glasses and was very well-behaved and soft-spoken. He was also from town but lived in the dormitory like us because his parents worked outside and had no one to take care of him.